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posted by janrinok on Saturday June 23 2018, @01:28PM   Printer-friendly
from the another-cup-please dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Caffeine consumption has been associated with lower risks for multiple diseases, including type II diabetes, heart disease, and stroke, but the mechanism underlying these protective effects has been unclear. A new study now shows that caffeine promotes the movement of a regulatory protein into mitochondria, enhancing their function and protecting cardiovascular cells from damage. The work, publishing 21 June in the open access journal PLOS Biology [...] found that the protective effect was reached at a concentration equivalent to consumption of four cups of coffee, suggesting the effect may be physiologically relevant.

The authors have previously shown that at physiologically relevant concentrations (i.e. levels reached after four or more cups of coffee) caffeine improved the functional capacity of endothelial cells, which line the interior of blood vessels, and that the effect involved mitochondria, the cell's energy powerhouses.

Here, they showed that a protein called p27, known mainly as an inhibitor of the cell cycle, was present in mitochondria in the major cell types of the heart. In these cells, mitochondrial p27 promoted migration of endothelial cells, protected heart muscle cells from cell death, and triggered the conversion of fibroblasts into cells containing contractile fibers -- all crucial for repair of heart muscle after myocardial infarction. They found that caffeine induced the movement of p27 into mitochondria, setting off this beneficial chain of events, and did so at a concentration that is reached in humans by drinking four cups of coffee. Caffeine was protective against heart damage in pre-diabetic, obese mice, and in aged mice.

Journal Reference: Niloofar Ale-Agha, et al. CDKN1B/p27 is localized in mitochondria and improves respiration-dependent processes in the cardiovascular system—New mode of action for caffeine. PLOS Biology, 2018; 16 (6): e2004408 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2004408

-- submitted from IRC


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Saturday June 23 2018, @06:54PM (2 children)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Saturday June 23 2018, @06:54PM (#697310) Journal

    Alright, well, that's an association most people are not going to have with news about caffeine.

    Me, I was encouraged by the headline because I drink about a pot of coffee a day. Always nice to find out your vices are actually virtues.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
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  • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday June 25 2018, @06:17AM (1 child)

    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday June 25 2018, @06:17AM (#697987) Journal

    I'm just completely unsurprised he listens to shit like Infowars. Explains a hell of a lot.

    --
    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
    • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday June 25 2018, @12:51PM

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Monday June 25 2018, @12:51PM (#698094) Journal

      Yeah, non-ironic consumption of Infowars or its ilk borders on the pathological. For entertainment purposes, as in, "Look at all the gibbering lunatics foaming at the mouth," it has its place. Keeping an eye on the same also has value for defense, because when things blow up it starts at places like those, not among the crowd that watches the Today Show.

      O tempora, o mores, right?

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.